Nov 2, 2023

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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The secret of the human edge over AI lies in undocumented knowledge.

The quality of online search results has improved manifold over say past 15-20 years and the quality and speed with which results are generated shall continue to improve with the advent of LLM, but the quality of such search results essentially still remains a function of underlying bulk content. The more data that will get added for processing the more refined results we’ll get, and more the data that will be used, segmented, labeled, and annotated to train machines, the more efficient AI use cases will be.

Thinking of machines and humans and what differentiates them, and taking a case of the decision-making process. The potential application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in boosting the degree of confidence in judgment is well understood. The application of AI in critical and scientific decision-making processes is also understood. It is also acknowledged that AI holds immense potential to supplement or eliminate part or bulk of human manual efforts and provide a fast baseline content for judgment and decision-making. That being said, still, the chances are that the key decisions across industry, businesses, and governance will continue to be made based on human judgment. The human judgment that stems from the life experiences of individuals and fraternity, not surprisingly most of which never gets documented. What differentiates the decision-making process of AI and human beings outside of the scientific application, is that the key decision made by humans goes beyond empirical evidence, rationality, and explanation and are also based on their instinct and their belief system. We are not even discussing the occult, spiritual, and depth of human subconsciousness. It is also noteworthy that AI is only as smart as the data it has access to, even if it may claim to extrapolate the data gap.

AI including Large Language Model (LLM) is fueled by data, but no amount of data seem to be enough to supersede the collective consciousness of human. The data that is undocumented is the missing piece of the puzzle and the documented data that AI has access to and on which it is being trained is possibly only the tip of the knowledge iceberg, and that's what will continue to differentiate humans from machines. This undocumented knowledge or data is almost like a treasure that is seated within the individual’s psyche, cultural experiences, contextual understanding, belief system, and their evolutionary instinct; such knowledge or data is hidden in plain sight and never gets documented, as there is no need.

How humans behave or act is many a time counterintuitive, intriguing and captivating. Each of these acts translates into experiences, the kind of experience that enriches individuals and fraternity but never gets documented, hence never becomes a data point. For instance, those seasoned drivers and commuters who take the shortcut route other than what is shown by the navigation app, by instinct as they have known the rhythm and streets of the city by heart over decades. Those investors who will buy stocks, or strike a deal based on numerology and their lucky number or based on perceived auspicious time or period, a deal that is different from predicted trends or obvious choice, as it goes with their belief system and has worked in their favor in the past. Those project leaders who navigate smoothly through challenging situations based on their life learning, that is nowhere to be found in textbooks and hardly get documented. Those businessmen who take day-to-day and big decisions based on the wisdom earned since childhood while helping their parents in their business, a kind of emotional intelligence not to be gained from business school. Also, those local guides who take you to hidden jewels of the city not to be found in best of the travel guide books, somehow remain a trade secret. Likewise the ordinary and extraordinary trade secrets or individuals, collective, fraternity, and sectors. The million interpretations of a single art piece and craftwork in the gallery and museum by varied spectators, many of which are no less vivid than the interpretation of an art critic. Even the quantum and richness of knowledge that gets instantly and momentarily generated in classroom discussions, ideation and Q&A sessions, but never find their way to the published literature of any kind or public domain. Examples of undocumented knowledge are innumerable, prolific and unfathomable.

The quest of mankind is to structure the knowledge, and the underlying assumption is that every case that is to be analyzed for empirical research has been categorized already, but no amount of sample size is large enough to tap into the experiences of individuals and the consciousness of the collective. Each individual’s experience is the rich embodiment of exceptions, like their life journey, meanwhile, the exceptions always get discarded in quest of a pattern, hence missing out on vital knowledge or data that stems from the individuals, subsets, and fraternity. This is an example of unstructured, undocumented data. AI and LLM while processing seemingly vast, heterogeneous data will most likely still continue to face the challenges of not having access to knowledge that is there but not documented, especially that is seated within individual, community, and culture, and remains obscure and unintentionally out of reach. Yes, one can pay to get the experiences documented and labeled for machine learning but that will still be like scratching the surface.

Acknowledging that humans bring a different value to the table, might be a solace in the turbulent changes in the technological landscape that is happening right now with no sign of slowing down.

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please Note, that I am also conducting a FREE 45-minute online individual consultation on your interior design and home decor needs and aspirations if you are in the Netherlands or even internationally. Drop me an email at anoop.jha@gmail.com

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#AI #LLM #Chatgpt #Technology #ML #Machinelearning #urbanplanning #smartcities #Rotterdam #Hague #Amsterdam #Utrecht #Spain #Barcelona #Germany #Stuttgart #Demnark #UK #EU #Europe

Cities must thrive!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Offering economic choices and linking them to urban public spaces.

There is an inherent insufficiency in the way we plan urban spaces world over, that is a flaw of inertia, a self-limiting prophecy, that is this notion of designing mono-functional public, semi-public and outdoor spaces, irrespective of their size. The idea that a particular space and asset should only function in a way as per its perceived functionality. Because it has been done this way all along, the inertia of centuries. The perception itself is limiting, hindering choices and discarding opportunities. The idea that a parking space is to be designed and used only for parking cars or bikes with almost no functional heterogeneity. The idea that parks must only serve recreational and health purposes, denying multifunctionality. The idea that school should only be used for teaching, that too for an assigned grade, an asset that remains idle for the rest of the day and night, for instance. And more.

This inertia of what a city can offer to its citizens is inherited limitations of capabilities that we had centuries ago. The century-old idea of what city spaces should comprise of, the idea of its functional constituents like land use or degree of land use heterogeneity is based on human capabilities of calculation, modeling, and scenario building. Fitting the infinite choices within half-odd dozen land use, or a dozen or two land use compatibility matrix. While the computation power enabled by tools that we have today, has increased astronomically in past century, city planning frameworks and methodologies have not used them effectively world over.

On the other economic side, there are way too much of lost opportunity cost and several barriers to economic choices. If we just observe the skill profile of individuals, households and society around wherever we are or try recollect from our memories, if we do that even without any matrix, it is easily noticeable that we are surrounded by a lot of talent and scores of people with borderline entrepreneurial drive, irrespective of age, gender and ability. For instance, the guy just retired from financial services, with immense wealth of industry knowledge who can offer banking, investment, and financial advice to others. The homemaker who is excellent at cooking and baking. The part time worker who also has a knack of art. The business student who can teach the basics of marketing to others. And many more alike, possibly million others, who want to do something about their spare time and talent, but find processes too taxing, convoluted, and tortuous, and confronted by not having accessible, affordable and legit neighbourhood spaces to get in touch with their prospective customers. Those who may not be willing to go through the preparation of full-fledged business plan, or too shy or feel incapacitated to launch a startup, or may find business registration processes, tax compliance and legality of businesses too complex, or may not be willing to invest in commercial property, but who might still like to try some economic activity, given a choice, given a humble non-imposing space in their neighborhood, on a nominal per day or hourly basis, those who might like to start small, with simple handholding, who might opt to rent a few square feet in public space, if available, where they can try sell their product or services. Not to be generalized as street vending activities, nor to be tagged as informal economic activity. The current threshold to enter into economic activity is too high for them to give it a try, so most of them simply drop the plan, and hence the loss of opportunity cost.

It is possible that through urban planning and urban design interventions, and through some procedural elasticity, city administration, labor department, and tax authorities together may solve this dilemma. This is to be done on a pilot scale for a year or two, before scaling up. What is required from them is that city administration allows experimental economic activities in a range of urban public spaces, they carve out hundreds or thousands of such small spaces from the existing public spaces and urban residual spaces to facilitate these economic activities, allow multifunctionality of semi-public spaces on a timeshare basis, and offer them to these people on a temporary basis, also allow real-time changes in land use at granular scale of square feet or so. Labor department that may allow such activities to happen while assuring the support infrastructure is in place, tax authority issues easy online and offline formality to be done for the legitimacy of such economic activities, further without the tax liability in say first 6 months. This period with access to space for functioning, will be sufficient for people to try many economic activities that they think they are capable to execute, without the associated burden, they will get real taste of trying new things hands-on and may decide if it makes business, societal and personal sense for them, and many of them may later decide to continue these activities on a regular basis while switching to formal business protocols and tax regime.

How difficult it could be to liberate economic choices even for experiment’s sake, how difficult it may be to repurpose public outdoor spaces and reassign multi-functionality in semi-public spaces to make them more heterogeneous and allowing integration of economic activities in them. If we remove the bureaucratic processes associated with it, rest is a fairly easy task and target to achieve. Any city and its citizens can thrive, it’s a matter of making choices that we haven’t made till now out of inertia, or possibly not thought about them.

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#opportunitycot #economy #city #urbaneconomy #economic #urbanplanning #urbandesign #publicspaces #livelyhood #vocation #community #Rotterdam #Amsterdam #Utrecht #Hague #DenHaag #Netherlands

Where do we think a large share of finite resources get consumed?

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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The blog post continues here...

There is wastage in terms of summation all the material, energy, labor, and time, that gets consumed in producing all the products that is never used, in creating infrastructure and built environment that never gets utilized or remains underutilized, through leakage in network like NRW, in creating services and systems that runs under capacity, in commuting to all the places that doesn't serve its intended purpose, in developing multiple design or planning alternatives 50% to 80% of which gets discarded, in all the repetitive works like digitization in absence of open-source ve
ctor data and more. Some of these have their due place, but there is also ample opportunities for saving on resources, manpower or time here.

Most of these seems to be a systemic problem rater than originating from individual action. Yes, also individual responsibility but specifically of those who are in decision making position, who can do something about over production, systems and infrastructure inefficiencies, underutilization, resource and time wasted in repetitive tasks, data hidden behind paywall that prompts repetitive works and more.

While it is understood that world problems that emerge and accumulate over decades, need similar cooling down period of decades to reverse or sequester or see a different fate, through tools like education and mass sensitization for instance. The urgency of resource, time, and energy conservation is such that, time is of essence here. Considering part of the problem is systemic in nature, that is also an advantage in a sense that, there is at least theoretical possibility that sub-parts of these problems can be solved in one master stroke. And this can be solved through design rather than education. A design flaw, be it systemic or otherwise, should ideally be solved though design intervention and process re engineering rather than education and appeal. This is only possible if we pause, see the point, and explore the possibility of fixing systemic flaws through design.

To tackle these, new ways of thinking must be encouraged, with technology as enabler, for instance production units which should explore producing alternative products in lean time using its existing infrastructure instead of overproducing a specific product. Technology for mindful traveling that allows getting more done in single return trip. Technology that allows matching spatio-temporal supply-demand in real time. Interoperability and open source data that curbs repetitive tasks allowing resources to focus on most critical aspects. AI that generates and tests alternatives in background so that manpower, time and energy can be targeted to enhance final output. And likewise.

Author: Anoop Jha

Image: Author

[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#AI #urbanplanning #economy #production #resource #circulareconomy #urbanmanagement #city #smartcity #Amsterdam #Rotterdam #Hague #Utrecht #Netherlands #EU #Europe

Being mindful of what socio-technological norms we celebrate, and need of constant reflection!

Please visit my consulting web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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[NOTE: Thank you for visiting my Blog, hoping you will like it. Please Note, that I am conducting a FREE 45-minute online individual consultation on your interior design and home decor needs and aspirations, if you are in the Netherlands or even internationally. No strings attached. Drop me an email at anoop.jha@gmail.com to connect and schedule the session]

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The blog post continues here...

History has taught us that every new technological breakthrough that finds a social and business relevance today, becomes mainstream norm tomorrow, gets celebrated for a little while, until embedded issues starts to get recognised. Being mindful of what we celebrate today, means constantly reflecting on what is perceived as a good practice today, and challenging the norm only to find even better alternatives, and achieve next breakthrough as soon as possible.

This is true for any country or region, industry and sector, and examples are prolific.

An example for instance, what a waste of precious energy, manpower and time as we sort, crush, break, shred, smelt, glass, metal and plastic bottles and containers to recreate glass, metal and plastic bottles and containers once again with a fresh label. Somewhat with an illusionary sense of satisfaction that we have intercepted, retrieved and recycled the material, but at what cost? Even if we sort using AI only to crush and shread it, its still an inefficient process. Even though it may not qualify for low value reuse of material, its also not high value usage of material.

The large fraction of these bottles and containers of all sort, size and material which can be retrieved intact and reused in its current shape with very little efforts and science.

Crushing, grinding and smelting an otherwise intact (millions and more) glass bottles and metal cans, to its constituents, to rebuild the same bottle again defies all logic and sensibility, considering all the megawatts of energy that might have gone into the process over years. When a glass bottle or glass vase can technically be retrieved, refilled and reused an infinite times for instance.

All this as an example, done in a rush to celebrate something, like a technology that we seem to have mastered today and also in absence of finding an alternative like practical and scale use-case of reverse logistics and high value reuse, where bottle and metal cans go to original producers or local authorized partner/ affiliate/ distributors for refilling. This is possible only if we see the point, do the math, do policy and regulatory restructuring, brainstorm with industry and research entities, retrace the supply chain distribution path, take environmental cost into consideration and reimagin accountability matrix.

Author: Anoop Jha

Image: Author

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, I am launching urban management (urban segment), interior design and home decor services and commissioned fine artworks (design segment) in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

The design segment is also capable of serving the unique needs of expats including the Indian community in the Netherlands.

Please visit the web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Please also check and follow my Instagram interior design page where I am starting with sharing thoughts on what makes a great interior design. Follow @urbantenets

Also, do not forget to check my Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

Thank you for your attention!!]

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#circulareconomy #wastemanagement #energytransition #climatechange

#urbanplanning #smartcities #Rotterdam #Amsterdam #Utrecht #Hague #Denhaag #Netherlands #EU #Europe

Sign of a healthy city!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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A composite matrix of another kind.

Over time we have developed scores of indices and KPIs to measure the livability of cities. Somthing which has become a tool, a phenomenon, a race to climb the ladder of best city ranking. Why this race? because of the prestige, attractiveness to investments, economic growth, and in essence tagged as quality of life. Caution though, economic growth may not always correspond to better quality of life, as growth comes at a cost and with externalities.

You also only measure what you can, hence the indices tend to focus of measurable, tangible and palpable, also only something that correlate to other cities, as its a matter of who is doing better and who is the best.

There are possible indices which we tend to miss out, sometimes intangible, somtimes not considered worthy, sometimes tagged too vague, still signs of a healthy city. But most of the time we leave some purposefully, as corresponding data for same may not be available for other cities being compared.

What if we just measure health of a city, for its own sake, not for comparison, not for race to the best. Not under binding imperical rigidity, not though lenses of what should be, and not under fear for being judged. This freedom from external and established reference points may allow to look at city objectively, without prejudice and with a fresh perspective. In a sense where cities try to understand its own construct, and each city may assess its health based on unique indices, as unique any city is.

For instance, density, diversity and richness of flora and fauna in each micro neighbourhood, proximity and ease of access to natural and manmade water bodies and water features for its inhabitants, diversity of language in sample population in high footfall areas, share of elderly in outdoor spaces and outdoor activities, intensity of health and recreational outdoor activities on workdays indicating work life balance, share of workforce engaged in part time vocation and rotational shifts with freedom of livelihood choices, survey and analysis of unreported friction incidents in community and in public spaces as a barometer of civic obedience and community harmony, and footage analysis of near-miss outdoor hazardous incidents, to name some.

Author: Anoop Jha

Image: Author

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#healthycity #cityranking #cityindex #citymatrix #urbanplanning #urbandesign #transportplanning #society #Rotterdam #Amsterdam #Utrecht #Hague #DenHaag #Netherlands #EU #Europe

How do we embed circular economy in practice?

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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It's obvious how circularity is missing or rather excluded from current processes and systems, in its existing shape.

How is it that your phone and accessories, fashion products and other lifestyle products-

[01]. Become outdated next year or next season, (made to believe that way, orchestrated reality, messed up collective consciousness, fast fashion and more)

[02]. Become faulty or near junk in 3 to 5 year with minuscule or no value or rather a liability (fragile by intention, designed to last only few years or months or weeks, designed for "repair impossible", outdated by design)

What do we do about -

[01].IDEA OF PRODUCTS BECOMING OUTDATED SOON

EDUCATE -

1a. Adding circular economy in educational curriculum including school and across higher education irrespective of stream, for awareness of those who become consumers, producers and decision makers tomorrow. Knowledge makes responsible behaviour possible.

SENSE MAKING-

1.b. Ease of access to trusted measurement matrix and legit interactive visualization tools (app, sensors ect.) for confrontation with material that we consume, and waste that we produce by individual action and or collectively as society. See it to believe it, to make responsible day to day and big choices.

[02]. PRODUCTS FAILING FAST AND GETTING OBSOLETE OR REDUNDANT SOONER

CURB AND INCENTIVIZE WHAT YOU CAN-

2.a. Curb the fragile design practice by stringent regulatory measures and responsible industry practice

2.b Incentivize the robust design practice, i.e. designing products that lasts, that are easy to repair, to keep products and material in use and in loop as long as possible.

MAKING REPAIR EASY

2.c. Incentivize repair at doorstep to see the impact

2.d. Statutory recognition of repair centers, as integral part of public and semi public facility (PSP) land use

2.e. "Return or repair everything under one roof", along with logistic support, and in accessible places within cities, ideally in CBD, for every product which you find broken or acting up in household.

WHAT IT TAKES

Not much, mere intention, willingness, strategy and some math!

Author: Anoop Jha

Image:Author

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#circulareconomy #urbanplanning #urbanmanagement #smartcities #fastfashion #resourcemanagement #supplychain #sustainability #keepinloop #repaircentre #Rotterdam #Amsterdam #Utrecht #Hague #Netherlands

There is increasing need of dialogue and new partnerships within each domain, for faster circular transition!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Within each domain of industries, systems, businesses and professions.

In today's highly specialized world, the way various industries, systems, businesses, and professions have been conceived and organised, they can continue their growth mostly without talking to or interacting to each other. Kind of specialization where roles and responsibilities are predefined, and, goals and objectives are highly aligned with specific sectoral trait, typology and needs.

This equilibrium of sectoral autonomy is a result of decades of industrial efficiency logic, where value chain has developed and matured, following path of the least friction. It is considered that if two traditionally independent systems or industries or businesses, pause and speak or interact with each other, it will result in inefficiencies due to lost time and money.

In the existing scheme of things this need of dialogue and new partnership is considered inefficient as it consumes time, and time is of essence here, which actually translates to money. So they prefer not to talk to each other, unless its imperative or binding, also thinking what's the need when individual value chain is in equilibrium, when there is comfort in autonomy and when there is security in specialization.

In this increasingly material and resource constraint world, yes there is urgent need of knowing each other, need of finding compatibility and complimentary strengths, need of sharing pain points and learning, need of talking to each other, increasing necessity of sub-disciplinary dialogue and interdisciplinary perspective to business, industries, professions and value chain.

This is also in line with the idea of industrial symbiosis and circular economy where waste of one industry becomes feed for another industry for instance. Likewise, systems which works towards standardization at conceptual, virtual and physical levels for interoperability. Similarly, resources which can be pooled, shared, loaned, exchanged, leased or traded among businesses. Also professional knowledge, best practices, learning which can be crystallized, and modularized for dissipation, transfer, and exchange.

How do we achieve this?

By acknowledging that there is need to pause, and rethink about having more dialogue for larger good and in turn for their own efficiency. By finding new forms of compatibility, interdependencies, and vlaue exchange. By aggregation and co-location of industries. By common database and dashboard of business needs. By agreeing on common definition of standardization within systems. By digitalization and open source structure of best practices, and more.

Author: Anoop Jha

Image: Author

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#Circulareconomy #urbanplanning #urbanmanagement #systemthinking #designthinking #material #Rotterdam #Utrecht #Amsterdam #Hague #DenHaag #Netherlands #EU #Europe

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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When the economy has to serve its purpose!

🏭When not producing anything is not an answer and when shutting down industries, businesses and operations may not be an option!

Then we need a statutory mechanism, moral pivot, and disruptive but viable business model, where every new and existing industry and business may still continue to function, but upskill themselves at the facility scale (and sectoral level) and devote up to half (not a token) of their capacity, resources, and skills to make things right, neutralizing the externalities that another half of their current business model or establishment generates. To be achieved either through circular procurement, reverse logistics, repurposing production, decarbonization, resource efficiency, or carbon offset.

This is highly important in today’s race of production and overproduction, as by any estimate for example, as on date -

👔There must be enough clothing stacked in the warehouses, stores, wardrobes, second-hand market, and on the way to landfill, that may serve what the entire world population requires for the next month or even a year or more

🏢There must be enough sum total square feet of real estate inventory, to give a respectable unit area of habitation to everyone in the world, considering all the vacant and under-utilized residential stock, all the extravagant properties, and all other land use that sits idle half of the time.

And more.

All of this that is currently being done, to serve inflated demand, and due to lack of a mechanism to recirculate material that is considered waste, and the inability to manage mismatched resources.

A new way of industrial and business operation will be a welcoming change!

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#Circulareconomy #urbanplanning #urbanmanagement #urbandevelopment #economics #finance #industries #comemrce #World #EU #Europe #netherlands #Amsterdam #Rotterdam #Hague #DenHaag #Delft #Lieden #Sustainability #Resislience #Climatechange

One of the most important and underrated aspects of material flow.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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The conservation and (re)utilization of embodied energy - from the scale of the product to the built environment.

Yes, materials have been extracted and refined, and the products have been made, and transported for intended use, with all its embodied energy, the product that went through energy-intensive processes, leaving environmental externalities. What next?

It will be unreasonable and illogical to keep producing, while not knowing what to do with the product or refined material after the end of its first functional or fashionable life. The thing we know and focus on today is to grind and smelt products back to their granular, sometimes molecular constituents, or ship them to grey markets and landfills of less well-off places, after sometimes their deliberately short, designed, perceived, and valued life. Maybe it’s the only choice for some in their given context, maybe it’s a problem of not knowing whose Lifecycle responsibility it is after the product leaves the factory.

In any case, the post-perceived functional life of products, it becomes a problem of “compound” embodied energy associated with refined materials and products at a global supply chain level.

Once a product or refined material enters into local geography through a global supply chain, with all its embodied energy associated with processing, transportation, etc., it is the responsibility of the local economy, regional industry, and governing institutions to create enabling grounds for maximizing the use, reuse, and repurpose of refined materials/components and products at varying scale, be it extension of life, second, third and fourth life or reinvented multi-functionality of such products. Just because we have figured out how to make new products or refined material from scratch, doesn’t make it necessary to discard old and create new at the pace at which it is being done, just because you can.

Be it paper, plastic, cardboard, and glass products, packaging and residues (which hold high circular potential due to their numeric strength), or of course concrete (that holds circular potential due to sheer scale), or discarded EV batteries, chemicals, PV modules, wind turbine components (that holds less explored circular potential in the need of hour).

A product or refined material of any scale, at any historic or contemporary timeline, once produced, with or without thought of the future or post-functional life, becomes immensely valuable due to all the efforts, time, and embodied energy associated with it, and its never too late to reassess the real value of such product, to explore how these can be put to best use tomorrow and in times to come, especially within the local geography.

Author: Anoop Jha

Image: Author

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#circulareconomy #urbanplanning #resourceeffeciency #materailflowanalysis #LCA #climatechange #systemthinking #designthinking #Amsterdam #Rotterdam #Utrecht #Netherlands #EU #Europe

The dilemma of oversized urban houses.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Yes, they live in oversized houses, as they gradually reached there, as they wanted to, as they needed it, and as they could afford it at one point in time. They still continue to live in oversized houses even if they don’t want to as it becomes unmanageable with age and weakening abilities, even if they don’t need it as they become empty nesters, and even if they can’t afford it at another point in time, with drying wherewithal and acclivitous expenses.

Yes, it’s not that easy to reconfigure something made of brick and mortar, at the unit scale and at the neighborhood scale. It’s difficult with architectural rigidity that doesn’t consider modularity in its inception. It’s harder still with binding urban design regulations that don’t consider such future reconfiguration requirements and possibilities in the first place. Even more difficult with land use restrictions, that don’t consider real-time land-usage convertibility, and are nearly impossible amidst stringent building bylaws that are dictated by the idea of dimensions.

Having a choice is fundamental. We are discussing reconfiguration, from a house to a neighborhood scale, not with the conventional idea of accommodating more people per unit or per acre, not with the sole idea of co-location or sharing; but to offer inhabitants a choice that they deserve, the choice to sequester their operations in the humble Sqft of area, carved out of their own house, that is still respectable for a home, that is manageable, and affordable with growing age. If we end up gaining room for more inhabitants per acre through the reconfiguration of houses and neighborhoods that is a byproduct.

In any part of the world, it’s counterintuitive even from a policy perspective, surrounding this phenomenon of living in oversized houses at a growing age, with household size considerably reduced, when many of them may not require it or want it but still live there in the absence of choices. Counterintuitive, as administrations may choose to offer money as a social welfare gesture only to take some of it back unintentionally in the form of higher energy bills generated and associated higher property taxes due to those additional sqft of area which many residents might not require.

While the discussion around retrofitting and circular built environments is gaining traction, we should further move beyond the idea of material trade-offs, and, design, plan, and strategies to consider the matter of mutating requirements and choices and focus on this much-ignored immutable fact that human spatial needs drastically change with time. Technologically, reconfiguration and retraction of the buildings and larger built environment is not impossible, possibly focus has to be on statutory reconfiguration and policy reengineering.

Author: Anoop Jha

Image: Author

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#urbanmanagement #urbanplanning #urbandesign #smartcities #circulareconomy #Rotterdam #Amsterdam #Utrecht #Netherlands #EU #Europe

What makes a great city?

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/
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Luck, inheritance, coincidence, distinct leadership, resourcefulness, and experimentation

LUCK

· Geographic positioning – less susceptible to seasonal and weather extremities, and diurnal variations

· Environmentally guarded geography – less vulnerability to climate change catastrophe

· Regional positioning (sea coast, river bank, hills, valley) - economic and ecological potential

· Natural resources (minerals, ecological assets)

COINCIDENCE

· On a trade route – economic edge

· Twin city or polycentric regional setting – symbiotic advantage

INHERITANCE

· Heritage – something to nurture and to build on

· Legacy institutions (industries/ businesses/ hub of public and private institutions)

DISTINCTIVE LEADERSHIP

· Transformative vision (planned spatial growth and development blueprint, policy formulation, sectoral roadmap, city branding)

· Creating economic and knowledge ecosystems (anchor industries and MSME, commerce, startups, universities)

· Tackling socio-economic challenges (poverty, inequality, crime)

· Controlling demographic indicators (education, gender ratio, vocation, etc)

· Mitigating environmental impact

· Preparing for climate resilience

RESOURCEFULNESS

· Finding means of revenue generation

· Attracting investments

· Assuring funding

· Attracting human capital

· Attracting footfall

· Creating a network of global and regional partnerships and a support system

EXPERIMENTATION

· Living labs

· Districts of experimentation

The above factors and possibly a few others, dictate the present and future of metropolitans, cities, towns, and “would-be cities”; these are interdependent factors. While luck, inheritance, and coincidence have their own place, and sometimes cities have no choice; going beyond, theoretically and technically any city can be a great city if it decides to be one, if it focuses on leveraging what is coincidental, building on what has been inherited, finding right leadership, being resourceful and experimentative!

Author: Anoop Jha

Image: Author

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#urbanmanagement #urbanplanning #smartcities #urbandesign #landscape #ecology #economy #heritage #tourism #municipality #Amsterdam #Utrecht #Rotterdam #Netherlands #EU #Europe

Revisiting the impact of mega infrastructure development.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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The nature of mega infrastructure projects is such that their impact goes beyond its physical dimensions and boundaries. The impact goes even beyond its defined catchment, described objective, perceived externalities, and statutory confine.

When a mega infrastructure of any kind is introduced in a geographic system, the morphology of the immediate and distant built environment is either going to be evolved, shaped or redefined, ecological and bio-diversity reconfigurations may just get triggered, microclimate are going to undergo changes, socio-economic and demographic equilibriums are bound to change, power dynamics are bound to shift, a period of destabilisation and adjustments are sure to be witnessed, the upheaval of opinions, emotions and aspirations are mostly assured, the opportunity-scape are obviously to be developed and redefined, and vested interests are bound to surface, and of course, few consequences beyond human grasp may also surface.

Build a ring road, make an airport, build a dam, or channelize a river, and all or most of the above phenomenon gets activated and rarely gets acknowledged or addressed in their impact assessment in the totality, complexity, and subtlety of it.

There are certainly positive externalities, but currently, any (negative) impact of mega infrastructure that comes as a surprise, we tend to label them as unintended or link them to external factors or define them as non-linear and characteristics of wicked problems.

The possible reason for the shortsightedness of impacts and events followed by the advent of mega infrastructure are the practical limitations of prescriptive statutory compliance. That is understood, as one has to stop somewhere and define the boundary of impact, contours of liability, and exactness of liability. But it is still wise to consider and assess the impacts beyond the statutory confine and unresolved interests, for the common larger good.

Thankfully, today or anytime soon, most of the impacts of mega infrastructure can be defined and visualised based on historical observations and near-infinite scenario modelling, can be predicted, forecasted and modelled accurately with modern tools, and can be empirically constructed, or imagined beforehand by logic, wisdom and diverse consultation.

Author: Anoop Kumar Jha

Image: Author

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#megastructure #infrastructure #urbanmanagement #urbanplanning #smartcities #urbandesign #landscape #ecology #economy #heritage #tourism #municipality #Amsterdam #Utrecht #Rotterdam #Netherlands #EU #Europe #Asia

Individual tax reform - empowering citizens to help build community they want to live in.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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We increasingly see people getting more and more aware, vocal and affiliated with one and many causes they care about. Many have accordingly started to make their choices, adapt their behavior and shape their lifestyle. It would have been great if they had actual say, tangible control, and power to influence level of impact, for the causes they care about.

In different parts of the world, you see homeless people on street and want to bring them out of that situation, you see poor uncared or abandoned animals on street and want to do something about it, you care about safety in your neighbourhood and want to do something about broken or absent street lights; you see mound of waste on street and want to see your city clean, you see your city getting flooded every year and want to do something about it.

The tax money one pays goes into solving these issues anyways, but the priorities and fund allocation against each issue is decided by someone's else, i.e., by government. By paying the tax money you acknowledge your contribution to making a livable city and a reasonable society, but you dont feel the satisfaction of actually, in tangible ways, contributing to the specific cause you cared about, through your tax contribution.

There is a possible way that you may have actual control on directly contributing to cause you care about, if we do a creative reform in the individual taxation. If you as an individual are given the choice, power, and means to assign and distribute part of, say 50% of your applicable tax amount to one or many causes you care about, from a long list of possible issues, where you want your part tax money to go. Also having the choice of whether your part tax money goes to national or regional or local tax reserve, depending on the scale of issue and nature of cause you care about.

This way you assure that you made the direct financial contribution to the cause you care about, get the sense of satisfaction that you helped ameliorate the specific situation within your community, neighbourhood and country, that bothered you for long. You can even measure the direct impact you made there through observation over time.

If central, regional and local government, and tax authorities, in any part of the world, in any country, in any city, jointly decide to do such tax reform, and if they do the math, the sum total of funds available for various investment priorities, should theoritically remain same as they projected upfront, despite citizens making random choices about their part tax money distribution. If not so, it only shows that citizen and community priorities are different than what government and city adminstration thought, which will in turn further prompt alignment of national/ regional/local priorities with citizen aspirations.

Author: Anoop Jha

Image: Author

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#Amsterdam #Utrecht #Rotterdam #Hague #Netherlands #EU #Europe #India

May 8, 2023

Key traits of Future Cities! (Reposted from archive 2014)

Still finding relevant?

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Original blog post link

https://planningurbanoregional.blogspot.com/2014/02/key-traits-of-future-cities-futurecities.html

[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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Nov 2, 2023

Cities must thrive!

Where do we think a large share of finite resources get consumed?

Being mindful of what socio-technological norms we celebrate, and need of constant reflection!

Sign of a healthy city!

How do we embed circular economy in practice?

There is increasing need of dialogue and new partnerships within each domain, for faster circular transition!

One of the most important and underrated aspects of material flow.

The dilemma of oversized urban houses.

What makes a great city? Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/************************************************

Revisiting the impact of mega infrastructure development.

Individual tax reform - empowering citizens to help build community they want to live in.

May 8, 2023

Key traits of Future Cities! (Reposted from archive 2014)

What makes a great city?

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/
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